A top official of Sri Sita Ramachandra Swamy Temple in Andhra Pradesh's Bhadrachalam town was allegedly attacked by encroachers after she tried to halt purported unauthorised constructions on a land owned by the temple.
Temple Executive Officer L Rama Devi and her staff were visiting Purushothapatnam village to stop the alleged illegal constructions on the temple-owned land when she was attacked by a group of villagers and subsequently fell unconscious. She was rushed to a private hospital in Bhadrachalam for treatment. An outsourcing employee of the temple also fell ill and required hospitalisation, sources said.
The temple in Telangana's Bhadradri Kothagudem district owns approximately 890 acres in Purushothapatnam, a village that was transferred to Andhra Pradesh following the state's bifurcation in 2014.
Despite an Andhra Pradesh High Court order directing the restoration of this land to the temple, illegal constructions have continued, leading to disputes.
Telangana Endowment Minister Konda Surekha condemned the attack, saying such actions against temple officials will not be tolerated. She warned that the Preventive Detention Act would be invoked against those involved in land encroachment and urged Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to intervene and resolve the long-standing issue concerning the valuable temple lands.
The encroached land, worth crores of rupees, is situated just two kilometers from the Bhadrachalam temple town on the banks of the Godavari River.
The incident highlights the persistent challenges faced by temple authorities in protecting their properties from encroachment, a problem that has plagued Bhadrachalam temple for several decades.
